Cricket 1883

“ Together joined in cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. No. 25. VOL. 2. Registered for Transmission Abroad. THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 1883. PRICE 2d. R. G. BAR LOW . R ichard G obton B arlow , who has not inaptly been termed the Job of cricket, was bom at Bolton, in Lancashire, on May 28, 1850. Like most players who have achieved eminence his aptitude for the game was not slow in develop­ ing itself. On the contrary he began to court fame as a cricketer at an exceptionally early age, and we have the authority of the painstaking compilerof “ Scores and Biographies” for the statement that he assisted his native town at the early age of eleven. Three years later he left Bolton for Staveley (near Chesterfield), and there he lived until a few years ago when he settled down i n his present location at Manchester. In 1871 he accepted an engagement at Farsley, in Yorkshire, and it was in this year that he made his first appearance in a county match. His debut was for Lancashire against Derbyshire at Derby, and oddly enough considering that perhaps most of his cricket had been learned in Derbyshire, the match in which he fflade his bow for Lancashire against the county of his adoption was the first played on the new ground at Derby. He was a sticker even then it is evident, from the fact that he was put in first with Ricketts, and despite that he only scored eight and one his debut was a promising one, as well for his batting which showed great care as for his bowling, which was fairly succesful when tried in Derbyshire’s second innings. The Lancashire pro­ gramme in 1872 only consisted of four matches, and it was not until three years later that the eleven began to show the first sign of the development which has lately placed it at the head of county cricket. Barlow’s rise was contemporaneous with that of the county, and at the same time it must be added that his effective all-round play has in a great measure contributed to the success at­ tained by the Lancashire eleven during the last few years. Most of Barlow’s best performances with the bat have been achieved in conjunction with Mr. Hornby, and his unwearying defence has proved an effective foil to the spirited hitting of the amateur. In 1875 against Yorkshire at Old Trafford the two batsmen performed a very ex­ ceptional feat, when they went in with 146 to win and got them without the loss of a wicket. At the and of that season Barlow found himself at the top of the batting averages of the county, and the following year saw him for the first time in the eleven of the Players against the Gentle­ men. During that season Mr.Hornby and Barlow together scored more runs than any other seven men of the county, and the following year left them in precisely the same positions at the head of the poll. In 1878 Barlow was well to the front in both batting and bowling averages, and again his unwearying patience was of great use as a contrast to Mr. Hornby’s fast Scoring. The following year found him not only well up in the batting averages but second to W. McIntyre Jin the bowling, and though comparatively a little out of form in 1880 the brilliant all-round cricket he showed in 1881 had very much to do with the proud position Lancashire attained as undoubtedly the champion county of the year. Up to this sea­ son he had not been particularly successful for the Players against the Gentlemen, but most of those who witnessed the sensational match at Brighton for the benefit of James Lillywhite will re­ member Barlow’s defensive first innings when he contributed 54 not out to the Players’ total of 204: The limited space at our disposal has pre­ vented more than a very hasty glance at Barlow’s chief performances during the five years following his debut for the Players against the Gentlemen. It is with regret too that we shall have to be proportionately brief in dealing with his excellent all-round cricket of last season. It was a most eventful year for him in every way, and on public form there was no better all-round cricketer in England. In batting as well as in bowling he was at the head of the Lancashire averages, and some of his feats were very much out of the common. Four times during the season he carried his bat through the innings in county matches, and one of his exploits—that for Lancashire against Notts at Not­ tingham on July 8th, is perhaps the most wonderful instance of defensive cricket ever recorded. He was in eighty minutes without scoring, and when at last the innings was over for 69 after two hours and a-half he carried out his bat for five. Barlow was one of the team which visited Australia under the command of Alfred Shaw towards the close of 1881, and it was only a little bad luck towards the end of the tour that enabled Ulyett to dis­ place him for the first position in the batting averages. During that trip be was very effec­ tive with both bat and ball, and he has just re­ turned to England after several months’ absence